Sweet & Salty Kale Chips

I had kale chips for the first time last week. And let me tell you, it was love at first bite. I will admit I was skeptical of this “superfood”, I thought that there wasn’t much to rave about; but then on a whim, we picked up a bag at my local health food store. I bit into the crispy and flavorful chip and I never looked back!

They come in so many different flavors and have these delicious, crunchy toppings dried right onto the chip. And, yes, they are actually crunchy – like a thinly sliced and delicate potato chip. After perusing the ingredients on a bag one day, I thought: “I could totally make these!”

This prompted me to get into the kitchen and make my own, considering the world’s smallest bag of these chips runs me about $5.50 a pop where I live. Not only is it budget saavy to make your own kale chips, but it is also a way to add the spices and flavors you want.

When Kale chips aren’t made correctly, they can come out bitter and flat-out unappetizing. This recipe, however, will definitely not disappoint! No bitter chips among the batch I made.

I also used the method of dehydrating these chips at a low temperature overnight, which locks in all the vitamins, enzymes, minerals, antioxidants, and nutrients found in the ingredients. Kale alone is packed with Vitamins A, C, and K, as well as calcium, copper, potassium, iron, manganese, and phosphorus.

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About the Author

I am Katie P. - the girl behind The Antidote Life. I am a twenty-something who lives in the Northwest; I am a proud born and raised East Coast kid who moved out West toward the setting sun. In the time since I have trekked from coast to coast: I have acquired a degree in Psychology, an amazing husband who I love with all my heart, a dog who saved me, and wonderful new perspective on life (& food). I love all things related to being geeky, cooking up noms, DIYing, and living a happy life. Visit me a http://www.theantidotelife.com!

Comments

Pat Ruskesays

I have been looking for a wonderful kale chip recipe and this looks like “it”. However, I don’t have a hydrator and probably won’t get one. What do you suggest I use instead. Can I put in the oven at a very low temperature???

Yes, you can use an oven at 200 degrees to “dehydrate” the chips – though keep in mind, cooking at a higher temperature will reduce the nutrients, enzymes, etc. With that said, you can bake them at 200 degrees until they are crispy and making sure to flip them occasionally. 🙂

I have made kale chips, but only seasoned them with sea salt. This recipe sounds wonderful, really kicks it up. I will certainly be trying this. I don’t use a dehydrator and they come out fine from the oven. The only problem I’ve encountered… they barely get out of the oven before we are digging in!

I found this site that explains how to use your oven (I don’t have a dehydrator either), but I like your seasonings better! Question – You call for 2 tsp salt, then use one for the almonds. Do you use 1 for the seasoning or 2?

Yikes! The dehydrator is OVER $200. I can’t even afford that for a months’ groceries. You mentioned that baking will take away nutrients. Do you have any other dehydrator’s you can mention that are within a normal person’s budget?

I used to put Tahini on my Kale chips, so good. I too would gobble them up as fast as I could bake them. Until I read the calories in Tahini.

Hi, This recipe looks really good – different from the cashew based kale chips I make, which is cool. I am wondering if you consider Kirkland almonds to be raw in the sense that they still have the enzymes in tact. It’s my understanding that commercially sold “raw” almonds are legally required to be pasturized by heat or fumigtion. I believe I called Kirkland’s andthey fumigate their almonds. Another point is that we can only get unpasturized almonds directly from the farm. Maybe this in only a California thing – not sure.

I finally got around to making these and THEY ARE AMAZING!!! The first kale chip I had was store bought and I wasn’t too impressed, especially since I paid $5 for a tiny amount. I didn’t have a red bell pepper and it was still delicious. My husband and friends were quite surprised how tasty they were. I’ll be making more these for sure and will try it with the red bell pepper next time. Thanks for sharing your delicious recipe 🙂

OH MY GOSH – Amazing recipe. This was so good. I only had pecans and a lime instead of almonds and a lemon. I have an over abundance of kale from my garden so I made a ton and shared with my coworkers. They love it! Thank you for this awesome recipe!

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